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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Get Your Wood On; 'The Year of 2008' runner-up?

Beer Dinners or Wood-aged Beer, which made a bigger splash in 2008? With 7 weeks to go in the year, I'm leaning towards Beer Dinner...but, a case (or barrel) can certainly be made for wood-aged beer.
Take a look below at a just a couple of events that have been held in this month. These and other similarly-themed events have underscored a year in which beers of the wood have gone on their way to becoming commonplace in the craft brewing world.
Take for example the number of beers entered at the last three GABFs (2008, 2007, 2006) in the following categories: Wood & Barrel-aged Beer (25, 26, 29); Wood & Barrel-aged Strong Beer (79, 72, 58); Wood & Barrel-aged Sour Beer (27, 21, n/a).
The Sixth Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer - 11/8, 113 beers, 41 breweries, 14 states
Barrel Aged Beer Festival - at The Bistro in Hayward, CA on 11/15; wrap-up by Jay at his siteVictory has joined the fray with a rotating weekly wooden 30-liter cask of unfiltered lager to be tapped each Friday.....things get underway tomorrow, the 21st, at 5pm with Prima Pils in the wood.
The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood - Not only about the wood, though it's part of their original raison d'être

1 comment:

It's a tough pick between beer dinners and wood-aged beers. Personally, I went to 1 beer dinner this year (Sam Adams sponsored) but I've tried perhaps a dozen or more wood aged beers this year. While I enjoyed the beer dinner tremendously, I love the wood aged beers even more. I think beer dinners will become even more popular next year. I've had to add beer dinners to my Colorado Beer Festival list to help fill in the big winter void. The food pairing events are also on the rise. Beer and Cheese FTW!